Doorlock



Dec. 29, 1925. I 1,567,811

I T. F. MURPHY DOORLOCK Filed Dec. 13, 1925 INVENTOR THOMAS E MURPHY ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES amounts 1*. MURPHY, on NEW YORK, N. v.

DOORLOCK.

Application filed December 18, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS F. MURPHY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Doorlocks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to door locks and has for its general object and purpose to provide a primary locking means on the inside of a door to engage suitable keepers at the edges of the door opening and adapted to be actuated by manually operable means projecting from the other side of the door, and means operable by a suitable key and including a spring projected latch bolt to engage a part of said locking means to prevent the actuation of the latter when in looking position.

lVhile my present invention, to be hereinafter described in detail, is of more or less general application, it is particularly devised with a view to its use upon the doors or" maillock boxes such as are installed in the vestibule or corridors of apartment houses, oflice buildings and similar structures. For this purpose, I provide a primary locking means for the door including a rotatably mounted part and a spring pro jected bolt to coact with said part and hold the same in looking position, said bolt adapted to be retracted by means of a suitable key and a device to automatically engage the bolt and hold the same in retracted position. Thus, after the postman has deposited the mail in the box he may actuate said device to release the spring projected bolt so that he need only close the door and turn said rotatable part to look ing position when the bolt will properly engage therewith to securely hold said part against further rotation whereby'the door might be opened and the mail removed by unauthorized persons. Thus it will be understood that it is not necessary to provide the postman with a key to the box door, nor to provide the usual letter insertion slot through which the mail might be extracted by the use of a wire or other implement without great difliculty.

It is another object of my invention to provide a device of the above character which consists of relatively few simply and durably constructed parts, may be produced at comparatively small cost and is highly Serial No. 680,348.

etficient and serviceable for the purpose in view.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved door lock and in the form, construction and rel- 6 at1ve arrangement of the several parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and subsequently incorporated in the subjoined claims.

In the drawing wherein I have illustrated one simple and satisfactory embodiment 01' the invention and in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views;

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a door equipped with my present invention; V

Figure 2 is an edge view thereof;

Figure 3 is an elevation of the inner side of the door, the primary locking means being shown in full lines in released position and in dotted lines in its efi'ective position;

Figure 4 is an enlarged end elevation of the key-operated locking device; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 4.

Referring in detail to the drawing wherein I have illustrated only so much of the door and casing or box structure as is necessary to a clear understanding of my present improvement, the door 5 may be constructed in any suitable shape or size and of sheet metal or other preferred material, said door being hingedly mounted along one of its vertical edges as will be readily understood, upon the door frame, or the wall of the box or casing at one side of the door opening. Upon the inner side of this door there is arranged a primary locking means which includes a disc 6 fixed upon one end of a shaft 7 suitably mounted within the door structure and having an operating knob or handle 8 on its outer end. The disc 6 is provided with a radially projecting locking arm 9 which in one position of the disc projects beyond a vertical edge of the door to engage with a flange or keeper on one side of the casing or door frame (not shown). In addition to the arm 9, locking rods 10 are pivotally connected at one of their ends as at 11, to the disc 6 at opposite sides of the shaft 7 and extend vertically upon the inner side of the door and through suitable guides 12 fixed to the inner face of alt) the door near its upper and lower ends. These rods when projected through the guides in the rotation of the disc 6 to its locking position, are adapted to be en gaged behind flanges or with suitable keep; ers at the top and bottom of the door frame or casing. Thus it will be understood that the door is locked against opening move ment both at the top and bottom thereof as well as at its free vertical edge. A stop pin 13 is also fixed to the inner "face of the door and is adapted to be engaged by the arm 9 to limit the rotation of the disc 6 to its unlocked position.

In a suitable casing 1i fixed upon the inner side of the door adjacent to the disc 6, a locking bolt 15 is slidably mounted and is positioned in the plane of said disc 6. This bolt is normally projected by means of the spring 16 so that one end of said bolt is in bearing contact against the periphery of the disc which is provided with a notch or recess 17 for the purpose of receiving said bolt when the disc is in its locking position. A key actuated cylinder 18 is mounted in the door structure and operatively connected with the bolt 15 and when the proper key is inserted in said cylinder and turned, said bolt may be retracted against the action of the spring 16 and disengaged from the notch 17 of the locking disc 6.

l have also provided means for automatically engaging the bolt 15 when it is retracted to hold the same in such position. As herein shown, this means may consist of a plate or bar 19 arranged vertically upon one side of the casing 1 1 and having a slot 20 therein to accommodate the bolt 15. This bolt receiving slot at its opposite ends communicates with the relatively narrow guide slots 21 through which studs or screws 2:2 fixed in the casing wall extend. The lower end of the bar 19 projecting be: low the casing is provided with a suitable linger piece 23 whereby said plate may be shifted upon the guide screws; The upper edge of the bolt 15 is provided with a notch or recess 24; for a purpose which will presently appear.

Assuming that the device is applied to the door of a letter or mail box, when the postman deposits mail ii the box he merely closes the door and turns the knob 8 so as to move the disc 6 and arm 9 to the dotted line position shown in Figure 3, whereby the door will be securely locked by said arm and the rods 10, the bolt 15 being projected by spring 16 into the notch 17 of the disc, thus preventing any turning movement of said disc from its locking position. When the house-holder desires to remove the mail, he inserts the proper key into the lock cylinder 8 and turns the latter thereby retracting bolt 15. 'VVhen the notch 24; in the upper edge of said bolt comes into alignment with the plate 18, said plate drops downwardly by gravity so that the shoulders at the juncture of the upper end of slot 20 with the upper slot 21 in said plate will engage in the notch 25, and thus hold the bolt 15 in rctract-ed position. The knob S is then turned to rotate disc until the arm 9 strikes the pin 13, thus disengaging said arm from f r keeper as well as moving the rods 10 to the-1 r released position so that the door may be swung open. After placing the mail in the box, the finger-piece on the lower end of the bar 19 is engaged by the finger and raid bar forced upwardly by the postman, thus releasing bolt 15 which is projected b the spring 16 until the end of said bolt against the edge of the disc 6, as seen in Fig. 3. The door is left open or unlocke. so that the postman may have access to the boX and when he again places mail th rein, it is only necessary to release the b0 close the door and then egrasp the knob '8 and rotate disc 6 until the notch 17 tl .o'i registers with the bolt ldwhen saiu will be further projected. into such notch by the spring 16, thereby securely holding the parts in their locking position.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with the accompany drawing, the construction, manner of ope tion and several advantagesv of my improved door lock will be fully understood. While the device is quite simple in construction. it is also highly effective particularly as a lock for the mail receiving boxes in apartment houses or office buildings and will obviate the possibility of fraudulent extraction of mail from the box or the opening of the box door by persons not having the proper key. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not necessarily limited to this particu lar purpose but may, with slight modifications, also be adapted for use in numerous other cases where such a locking device might be found desirable. It'will, therefore, be understood that while I have herein shown and described one practical embodiment of the device, the same may nevertheless be produced in various other alternative constructions, and I, therefore, reserve the privilege of adopting all such legitimate changes in the form, construction and relative arrangement of the several parts as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In combination with a door, locking means therefor including a rotatable part and a manually operable handle therefor at the outer side of the door, a spring projected bolt mounted upon the door in the plane of said rotatable part, said part having a notch in its periphery to receive one end of said bolt, key operated means on the door for retracting said bolt to disengage the same from said notch, and manually releasable means adapted to coact with the bolt and hold the same when it has been retracted by said key operated means.

' 2. In combination with a door, locking means therefor including a rotatable part mounted upon the inner side of the door and having an operating handle at the outer side of the door, said part having a notch in its periphery, a key operated lock mounted upon the door and having a spring projected bolt disposed in the plane of said rotatable part and adapted for engagement in said notch to secure said part in its looking position, and manually releasable means adapted to automatically engage said bolt when retracted from said notch to retain said bolt in retracted position, said bolt adapted to be released by actuation of said means whereby the bolt is projected into bearing contact with the periphery of said locking part for automatic engagement in the notch thereof when said part is moved to locking position.

3. In combination with a door, locking means therefor including a rotatable part mounted upon the inner side of the door and having an operating member projecting from the outer side of the door, locking elements movable to locking position when said part is rotated in one direction, a key operated lock mounted in the door including a spring projected locking bolt, said rotatable part having a notch in its periphery to receive one end of said bolt, and a gravity movable latch adapted to automatically coact with said bolt when the latter is retracted to retain the same in retracted position whereby said rotatable part may be actuated to release the locking means, said latch being manually operable to permit the bolt to be projected into bearing engagement upon the periphery of said rotatable part for movement into the notch thereof whereby said part is locked against rotation.

4. A lock comprising the combination of a fastening bolt having means for operating it to fastening and released positions, with a locking bolt adapted to engage said fastening bolt, a spring adapted to actuate said locking bolt into locking engagement with said fastening bolt when it is in fastening position, key operable means for retracting said bolt from its locking engagement with said fastening bolt, and a gravity movable latch adapted to engage said locking bolt and hold it in released position and manually operable out of engagement to permit the locking bolt to be projected forwardly by said spring.

5. A lock comprising the combination of a rotatable fastening bolt provided with a notch and having means for operating it to fastening and released positions, with a locking bolt adapted to engage said rotatable fastening bolt, a spring adapted to actuate said locking bolt into locking engagement with the notch in said fastening bolt when it is rotated to fastening position, key, operable means for retracting said bolt from its locking engagement with the notch in said fastening bolt, and a gravity movable latch adapted to engage said locking bolt and hold it in released position and manually operable out of engagement to permit the locking bolt to be projected forwardly by said spring.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name here under.

THOMAS F. MURPHY. 

